Just when you think you know everything, along comes a new piece
of information. I used to believe that National Resophonic got into
electric mandolins a few years after the other big makers. That
was before I started stumbling across instruments like the one
on the right,
dated as early as 1934, and the one above,
which is probably a few years later. That would make National the second company
to produce an electric mandolin—three years after
Rickenbacker, but two years before
Gibson and
Vega.
How many of these instruments were produced I don't know.
I do know that in the late 1930s, the company introduced
its Silvo pickup, which was mounted in a flat, round, black plate
that replaced the resonator cover on a National
metal-body mandolin or guitar.
The resonator cone was also left out of instruments with Silvos.
Such instruments appeared in
the National catalog for a couple of years; players could also send
their Nationals back to the factory to be retrofitted.
Apparently, Silvos were not a big hit; National soon abandoned them and started
designing other electric guitars. (They later made some more wood-bodied
acoustic/electric mandolins under the
Supro
brand.)
There are still a few Silvos around in playable condition.
The late Mark Heard owned
one, and recorded a fantastic album with it called Satellite
Sky. I once got the chance to play his, and after several years
of searching, wheeling, and dealing, I've managed to get one for
myself. (Now if only I could play it like Mark ....)
Of late, National has begun offering its new RM-1
resophonic mandolin with a "hot plate" pickup attachment
designed by Jason Lollar. These sound fantastic and have been
embraced by blues artists like
Rich DelGrosso and
Bert Deivert.